Originally Posted by
SchralphMacchio
I think we are all on the same page here - we shouldn't have been on that slope.
But this incident changed my opinion on airbags. Before this incident, my opinion on airbags was similar to totaliboard - gear is not a substitute for good partners and sound decision making. I used to joke that If I had $1000 to spend on an airbag, and haven't done my AIARE1 ever, or haven't retaken it in a long time that I'd spend the money on my refresher and my partner's, and then spend the rest of the $500 on beer. The idea is not to get onto a slope that is called out as suspect unless you are willing to pay the ultimate price.
But those were my thoughts before I got caught in all the same traps that we've read about. That was before I considered just how easy it is to get baited ... It's one thing to read about human factors, Tunnel Creek and nod your head about all of those factors - large group that is way too stoked and way too complacent with the terrain. But what did Casimiro just write about the rat standing above a maze, pointing his finger at the other rat inside and saying "you idiot!" The trap is a trap, because the dangers are hidden behind walls and around corners - hidden behind the cloud of human factors such as trust, complacency, deferral and excitement. The difficulty of sound decision making under a cloud of human factors is further compounded by sidecountry gates that magically transport you from the stoke of the tramdock to the danger zone of a minefield in minutes, while giving you no time to change mental gears that you are no longer in a safe area and that you need to work through your standard protocols to stay alive.
We shouldn't have been there, no. But we ended up there, and the next day Oceanman and I sat down with Mike's parents and talked about their son's last day in this world, and whether or not we thought an airbag might have saved his life. The information we got from the doctor on the scene and the initial coroner's finding suggests that an airbag would have greatly increased the likelihood of survival in this specific situation.
It's a difficult situation to reconcile. You never want to pay for your mistakes when the price is ultimate. But you also don't realize just how easy it is to make those mistakes, until that day that your luck runs out and you are staring at a 200' wide cloud of snow that just carried your buddy off the face of the planet.
I have a lot more thoughts to share on this incident ... have been doing a lot of thinking, through the grieving, sleepless nights and difficult days. I've been staying off the message boards and just lying low until I could get my head together. Trying to write something that would be worth sharing to the greater community in capturing the aftermath of it all.
But it's easier to just "come out" right now. I've taken stoke from this TGR community, learned a lot, met great friends, shared a lot of stoke myself, and now I just want to say to everyone that - yeah, it's really fucking easy to make mistakes that will cost people their lives.
Please wait for the details, and only trust information you get from Bridger Teton Avalanche Center or from a case study that we are working to put together. I will say that Angus did a great job on the article, and I've been told that he's seen this thing happen from all sides and had to see the aftermath of such deadly incidents. Until the more detailed writeups come out, I'll hope to share my own personal perspective that captures the emotional aftermath of such tragedy.
Finally, just a huge thanks to the Jackson community. SAR, guides, patrol, resort management, locals, BT avy center, everyone. Everyone has been so understanding and supportive, and a lot of folks risked their lives during the rescue. I can't ever forget that.
